Buffalo City Hall - Table of Contents


Preservation Buffalo Niagara has updated Buffalo City Hall: Americanesque Masterpiece. The new 2021 version has been edited by PBN staff with the help of Jodi Lynn Maracle to include new information and to properly identify and describe the Indigenous imagery and symbolism of the building.
Click HERE to order a copy.

Reprint

Buffalo City Hall: Americanesque Masterpiece
By John Conlin
1993
Landmark Society of the Niagara Frontier

  Table of Contents:

Cover

Title page - Landmark Society of the Niagara Frontier

Page 2 - Copyright page

Page 3 - Table of Contents

Page 4 - Acknowledgements

Page 5 - Preface

Page 6 - Illustration: Night view of City Hall

Page 7 - More Than a Landmark

Page 7 - Art Deco Style

Page 8 - Illustrations: Proposed designs by Howard Beck and John Wade

Page 9 - Architectural Influences

Page 10 - Illustrations: Sketches by Hugh Ferris and John Wade

Page 11 - Architectural Influences, cont.

Page 12 - Illustrations:  City Hall facade and Pinnacle detail

Page 13 - Exterior Design

Page 14 - Illustration: Tower detail

Page 15 - The Symbolic Tower

Page 16 - Powerful Placement

Page 17 - Historic Niagara Square

Page 18 - Fillmore and Cleveland Monuments

Page 19 - Mysterious Faces

Page 20 - Illustrations: Portico and Frieze figure

Page 21 - The Entrance Frieze

Page 22 - Colossal Entrance Portico

Page 23 - Main Lobby

Page 24 - Illustrations: Lobby

Page 25 - Main Lobby, continued

Page 26 - Illustrations: Lobby

Page 27 - Main Lobby, continued

Page 28 - Treasury

Page 29 - Rail Stairway

Page 30 - Illustration: Rear entrance frieze

Page 31 - West Frieze - Buffalo History / Mayor's Office

Page 32 - Common Council Chamber

Page 33 - Common Council Chamber, continued

Page 34 - Illustration: Map of Buffalo village

Page 35 - Observation Deck 28th Floor

Page 36 - John J. Wade - Architect

Page 37 - Illustrations: Wade drawings

Page 38 - Appendices: City Hall Fact Sheet / Mayors of the City of Buffalo

Page 39 - Appendix: Glossary

Page 40 - Appendices: Buffalo Common Council 1993 / Trustees of Landmark Society of the Niagara Frontier / Burchfield Art Center





Buffalo City Hall





Landmark Society of the Niagara Frontier   ...   Nancy Mingus   ...   Clinton Brown   ...  Catherine Faust ...   Henry Baxter   ...   John Conlin   ...   Appleton Fryer   ...   William Koch   ...   Louise McClive








Lafayette Square   ...   Niagara Square   ...   Exterior   ...   Presidential monuments   ...   Frieze sculpture   ...  Portico   ...   Main lobby art   ...   West frieze   ...   Council Chamber   ...   Observation deck










John Wade










Old County Hall   ...   Buffalo Athletic Club   ...   Statler Hotel   ...   George J. Dietel











Eliel and Eero Saarinen   ...   Kleinhans Music Hall   ...   Art Deco   ...   International Style




Pinnacle   ...   Terra cotta   ...   Art Deco




Portico   ...   Octastyle   ...   Columns   ...   Frieze   ...   Spandrel panel   ...   Basket weave   ...   Spandrel   ...   Pinnacle   ...   Obelisk   ...   Art Deco





Terra cotta





Spandrel   ...  Pilaster   ...   Zigzag   ...   Chevron





Portico




Niagara Square   ...   Joseph Ellicott   ...   Holland Land Company   ...   Samuel Wilkeson   ...   Burning of Buffalo   ...   Millard Fillmore   ...   William McKinley  ...   Daniel Burnham   ...   Ellicott Square Building   ...   Carrere and Hastings   ...   Pan American Exposition   ...   A. Phimister Proctor   ...   Lion   ...   Erie Canal  ...   Black Rock   ...   Gothic Revival   ...   Hotel Statler   ...   Main Place Tower   ...   NY State Building   ...   Federal Building






For  photos of both monuments, see Cleveland and Fillmore Monuments   ...   Granite   ...   City Hall   ...   Bryant Baker   ...   Grover Cleveland   ...   Millard Fillmore   ...    Parapet





For  photos and captions of all twelve figures, see Months window jambs




Frieze   ...   Colonnade   ...   Allegory





Frieze   ...  Erie Canal





Ancient Egyptian temples   ...   Reed   ...   McKinley Monument   ...   Obelisk   ...   Sawtooth   ...   Zig-zag   ...   Coffer   ...   Capital   ...   Spandrel   ...   Transom   ...   Chevron






Portico   ...   Vestibule   ...   Barrel vault   ...   Guastavino tile




Allegory   ...   Sunburst   ...   Gilded





Guastavino





Zig-zag





Iroquois   ...   Art Deco   ...   Grover Cleveland   ...   Millard Fillmore   ...   Frank X. Schwab    ...   Lunette

  










Wainscot   ...   Rosette   ...   Travertine   ...   Sunburst   ...   Vestibule   ...   Jamb
   ...   Cadillac showroom






Colonnade   ...   Iroquois   ...   For photos of this frieze, see  City Hall east and west friezes






Daniel Chabert Joncaire   ...   Joseph Ellicott  ...   Holland Land Company   ...   Forest Lawn Cemetery    ...   Iroquois   ...   Red Jacket   ...   Erastus Granger   ...   Samuel Wilkeson   ...   Erie Canal






Common Council Chamber 






Guastavino  ...   Kensington High School   ...   Bank of Buffalo Building





Joseph Ellicott







See also: Photos taken from the Observation Deck   ...   Ebenezer Johnson   ...   Buffalo Lighthouse   ...   Joncaire   ...   Grain elevators   ...   Guaranty Building   ...   Electric Tower   ...   County Hall   ...   Rand Building   ...   Lafayette Square   ...   Central Terminal






John Wade   ...   George J. Dietel   ...   St. Francis de Sales Church   ...   Chauncey Hamlin   ...  












Buffalo Architecture and History: Mayors of Buffalo





Buffalo Architecture and History: Illustrated Architecture Dictionary





Landmark Society of the Niagara Frontier   ...    William F. Koch   ...   John Montague   ...    Jack Quinan   ...   Austin Fox   ...   Appleton "Tony" Fryer   ...   Francis R. Kowsky    ...   Louise McClive    ...    John H. Conlin   ...    Burchfield Art Center



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